Reincarnated Swordmaster

Chapter Title: Dark Heaven Village

It was an unexpected truth.

I’d always known the Investiture of the Gods Plan as a war where the virtuous sages of the benevolent Heavenly Cult drove out the wicked King Zhou and the demons of the Absolute Cult—yet in reality, it was nothing more than a process of massacring and culling humans?!

As I learned this shocking fact for the first time and my eyes sparkled with fascination,

Gucheonhyeonnyeo spoke.

[Indeed, that was the plan. But didn’t the Three Pure Ones know of yet another scheme of their own? And as the Absolute Cult Leader, you refused to go along with it.]

[Hmph! Amateurish.]

Shin Gonggyo sneered.

[Merge the might of the Heavenly Cult and Absolute Cult to beg for mercy from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors? I figured it was far more realistic to crush the Heavenly Cult with the Absolute Cult’s power and claim dominion over humanity myself.]

Gucheonhyeonnyeo fixed her with a sterner gaze.

[You may have thought you were standing up for humanity, but in the end, you provoked the heavens to treat them even more harshly. You must have sensed it during the Investiture War—because of your fierce resistance, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors even sent down their own apostles.]

[No, that’s...]

[What could have been settled among immortals alone was escalated by you, making it impossible even for the Three Pure Ones to intervene. You, Shin Gonggyo, forced the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to act directly to suppress the Absolute Cult.]

Shin Gonggyo faltered.

Gucheonhyeonnyeo’s words clearly struck at the heart of her.

After hemming and meowing, Shin Gonggyo abruptly turned her head away.

[...I don’t know. So what? Even if I repented now, what would change?]

[To hear such words from the culprit herself—how brazen. We don’t need your letter of repentance. Just keep your promise.]

Gucheonhyeonnyeo glared at her.

[Can’t the esteemed Absolute Cult Leader even honor her own word?]

[Ugh... Fine.]

Shin Gonggyo approached me reluctantly.

Then she said,

[Hold out your hand.]

As Gucheonhyeonnyeo extended her hand, Shin Gonggyo chanted an incantation.

Ten Thousand Immortals’ Radiant Gold

Zzzing

‘Whoa...!!’

In that instant, it felt as if a golden thread pierced through my head, and information on the Absolute Cult’s secret arts flooded into my mind.

It was like sand slowly trickling through a needle’s eye, but soon the transfer accelerated, sending a rush through my brain like it was being drilled open.

Not only the Absolute Cult’s secret arts, but also the spells of the Golden-Feathered Fifty Heavenly Troops—how to cultivate them—and even the weaknesses in the Ten Heavenly Troops’ spells became clear to me.

But was this the limit of my capacity?

Just like when I’d absorbed Jiseon Manggyang’s memories, it was fragmented and jumbled, with many parts I couldn’t comprehend.

I could see them, but interpreting them was beyond me.

As I desperately tried to gather the information,

Gucheonhyeonnyeo said,

[Even with the skill to perform a top-tier memory transfer spell in a single incantation, why didn’t you raise an heir? After you were sealed, the Absolute Cult crumbled without anyone worthy to succeed you.]

Shin Gonggyo chuckled.

[Hmph... I never thought I’d lose.]

[...]

Shin Gonggyo sounded cool, but somehow she came off as foolish.

Gucheonhyeonnyeo looked at her in disbelief and said,

[Then it’s time to prepare our return to reality.]

[Don’t we just need the Suyu?]

[Be reasonable... Crossing dimensional barriers with the Suyu is merely the bare minimum. Only by combining our powers can we escape safely. Merge your spells with the Ruyi Staff and the Demon-Slaying Sword.]

[Tch...]

Shin Gonggyo smacked her lips.

She’d apparently planned to let Gucheonhyeonnyeo expend her power while conserving her own, but Gucheonhyeonnyeo wasn’t one to be trifled with.

Moments later, Shin Gonggyo and Gucheonhyeonnyeo faced each other and began chanting incantations.

Woong

Seeing their ancient incantations transform into characters floating around was mesmerizing.

They weren’t modern words or classical language, yet now each curse word’s meaning was clear to me.

‘Probably because I gained knowledge of the Absolute Cult’s secret arts from Shin Gonggyo...’

This might even help me learn ancient incantations in the future.

As I observed more closely, I noticed something odd.

‘Huh? Come to think of it, they’re not Hanja characters...’

Indeed.

Whether Gucheonhyeonnyeo’s incantations or Shin Gonggyo’s, the white curse words materializing in the air weren’t Hanja.

Nor were they ancient pictographs or oracle bone script—they seemed like a unique language crafted solely for spells.

I wondered why they didn’t use Hanja and created a separate language instead, but now wasn’t the time to ask.

Flash

A blue light seeped out, forming a three-chi circle in the air.

Gucheonhyeonnyeo hurled the Suyu at it and shouted,

[Suyu, open the path of return!]

With a high-pitched keen, the Suyu pierced the circle’s center, and a blue sky appeared within the pitch-black interior.

That blue sky was evidently linked to the real world.

Confirming the gate open, Gucheonhyeonnyeo moved to leap inside.

Boom!

[Ah, that bastard...]

As Gucheonhyeonnyeo cried out in alarm and retreated, the Three Zhang Sorcerer approached in human form from the opposite side.

He’d clearly just unleashed that spell at her.

The Three Zhang Sorcerer grinned.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

[Even your true body would struggle, but in human form? You’re suicidal!]

“Well, even for me with the best recovery, rushing here was a strain. I nearly died.

But aren’t you forgetting something?”

The Three Zhang Sorcerer subtly pointed behind him.

“Those lofty ones you pissed off are coming after you.”

Rumble...

He was right.

From the distant plains, chaotic tentacle masses, eerie demonic spirits, winged stone giants, and more rushed toward us.

Each one was undoubtedly an [Old Ruler].

Gucheonhyeonnyeo’s face hardened as she sensed the crisis, and Shin Gonggyo was the same.

Shin Gonggyo said incredulously,

[If those [Old Rulers] come here, you won’t survive either. What nerve to summon them. Even if you know some spells, you can’t keep fleeing from them forever.]

“Heh heh heh... My master Changhil’s stronghold is the moon of this Dark Heaven Village. And the moon’s inhabitants enjoy the great chase’s protection, granting us noble status within Dark Heaven Village. Moreover, Lord Changhil is a particularly special existence...”

The Three Zhang Sorcerer burst into laughter.

“Hahaha!! Within this Dark Heaven Village, no ordinary [Old Ruler] can touch us no matter what we do! Because we are incarnations of Changhil!!”

[...!! What?]

Shin Gonggyo looked dumbfounded.

And rightly so—[Old Rulers] stood at the pinnacle of causality, unbound by any constraints.

To be safe from their attacks just because they served Changhil?

Gucheonhyeonnyeo said calmly,

[Relying on your master’s authority to bluster, you mongrel. Then die.]

Bang!

With a single word-spirit of annihilation, Gucheonhyeonnyeo tore the Three Zhang Sorcerer’s body apart.

Despite a fatal blow, he staggered in place for a while before collapsing.

It was just an avatar anyway—no true victory over the Three Zhang Sorcerer yet.

In that moment, I knew my choice had been right.

‘Then even offering the Suyu to an [Old Ruler] risked it being stolen by the Eight Legions?’

If Changhil ruled Dark Heaven Village like nobility, the Eight Legions might claim it using his authority.

An [Old Ruler] might refuse, but losing it would have been the worst outcome for me!

Gucheonhyeonnyeo glanced at Shin Gonggyo and said,

[No time for hesitation. This isn’t the moment to scheme about who enters first and seals the gate on the other.]

[I never thought that!]

Shin Gonggyo replied anxiously, but it was obvious she didn’t mean it.

Gucheonhyeonnyeo said,

[We’ll enter together.]

[Got it.]

Leap

They both jumped into the dimensional gate opened by the Suyu simultaneously.

Splash

As they entered, suddenly a massive wave of the [Old Rulers’] demonic power surged from behind like liquid.

It was clearly a curse trying to seize them across time and space with magic.

Gucheonhyeonnyeo said in dismay,

[Oh no...!! Such a powerful curse...]

Even with her true power restored, she couldn’t block curses from several [Old Rulers] at once.

Shin Gonggyo paled, equally out of options.

It was then.

[You have the seal, so pass.]

What was that?

[The rest, die.]

With a gloomy voice, the enormous curse mass flying from behind suddenly halted.

‘What?’

I wanted to look back, but the possessing Gucheonhyeonnyeo rejected my will and said,

[Do not look back.]

[What’s happening...]

[The guardian blocking Dark Heaven Village’s entrance. That existence is infinitely close to an Outer God—do not incur his wrath.]

Splash

Screech!!

Something like enormous spiderwebs burst in all directions, and an inexplicable scream echoed from behind.

The screams were utterly wretched but soon began to fade.

I guessed the source but couldn’t believe it.

No way...

Were the [Old Rulers] chasing us from behind being massacred?

I’d never imagined such an absurd scenario, but nothing else fit.

I’d directly experienced the vast gaps even among [Old Rulers].

‘Ugh... Damn it...’

A chill ran down my spine.

If the gatekeeper massacred fellow [Old Rulers], storming Dark Heaven Village head-on was impossible!

Then I’d have to use the return beacon for that nonsense again or breach the dream world?

As I was lost in thought,

Gucheonhyeonnyeo’s voice came.

[Baek Woong. We’ll soon reach the real world—what will you do?]

[What do you mean?]

[Shin Gonggyo will act as she pleases. The world will be destroyed and thrown into chaos at her whim. Mortals below demigod level won’t even be her opponents. Even most greater celestials or dragon kings would vanish in one or two strikes from the Demon-Slaying Sword. She was the Absolute Cult’s sovereign, rivaling the Three Pure Ones in power.]

[Ugh... Yeah.]

Thinking of Shin Gonggyo’s overwhelming might anew, I was impressed.

Even Asura of the Eight Legions had been casually slain by her upon revealing his true form.

How could a human-born being grow that strong?

[But even I, with my full power restored, have no confidence in subduing her easily. If she simply flees without fighting, I’d be helpless.]

[...]

[Do you have some way to control Shin Gonggyo?]

I realized Gucheonhyeonnyeo was seeking my advice.

She evidently valued my journey to Dark Heaven Village and inheriting the Supreme Old Lord’s legacy, recognizing me as an ally.

I had to grapple with this sudden dilemma.

How could I control Shin Gonggyo?

After deep thought, a good idea struck me, and I said,

[At this point, maybe it’s better to let her show off her power a bit more.]

I wasn’t sure if it’d work, but it beat a direct clash.

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